and 'Sanford Son'truck back on the road

July 26, 2006

The rusty red truck came chugging down Old U.S. 31 north of Argos, kicking up gravel and chasing critters back into their holes. On the side of this 1951 Ford fossil, it read: Sanford and Son Salvage. 2nd Hand Antiques. We Buy and Sell Junk. Of course, one person's junk is another person's treasure, and this old truck is dear to Don Dimmitt, a well-known junk dealer in Marshall County. It is the actual truck that was used on the popular TV series, "Sanford and Son," that brought actor Redd Foxx as Fred Sanford into everyone's living rooms in the 1970s. The real deal. And it has been Don's baby since 1987. "I always wanted to put it in the Blueberry Festival parade and even thought about inviting Redd Foxx to ride in it when he was still alive," Don says. "But I neglected it over the years. "I should have turned the engine over every couple of months or so." Like some of his vehicles down the road at Dimmitt's Salvage, now run by Don's son Steve, grass started growing in and around it. Don sort of forgot about it. He had enough other cars and trucks to worry about. But Linda Clevenger of Bremen knew about the truck and loved the TV show, too, and pestered her friend Don to sell her the truck. "He always said he wanted to keep it," Linda says. "So finally, I told Don I wanted him to loan it to me for a while so my dad could ride in it as a 50th Bill Moor Commentary anniversary gift." Don obliged, wondering how the old truck was ever going to run again. But Linda's husband, James, a handy guy, rebuilt the engine and spruced it up and got it going. Fred Sanford probably hobbled happily around in Hollywood heaven. And Don Dimmitt was pretty pleased, too, when the Clevengers returned the old truck to him earlier this week -- driving it right up to his front door. He knows about junk heaps, and this isn't one. "Oh, I'm plenty happy with the way it looks," Don admits. "Maybe this year, I will finally get it into the (Blueberry) parade." He and his wife Carolyn hope his health can hold out. He is suffering from congenital heart failure, and some days are tougher than others. At 71, Don has been in the junk business for more than half a century. "I started out using my mom's backyard in Plymouth when I was 15 or 16, and it just grew from there," he says. He believes he is a kindred spirit to the fictitious Fred Sanford. "I still love watching 'Sanford and Son' on TV," he says. "Fred and I are a lot alike. I'm a junk dealer just like him, and we were both always trying to find a way to make money." And they have that old truck in common, too. Linda Clevenger, who would still like to buy the truck at some point, has done some research on it. Redd Foxx apparently had the old truck at his own home in Las Vegas long after the TV show went into reruns. But it eventually ended up in an auction, and collector Bill Mills, of Elkhart, bought it. "I paid Bill $3,500 for it in 1987," Don says. But to him right now, the old truck looks like a million bucks. The Clevengers put a few bucks into it as well. "I've got some grandkids who have shown interest in it here recently," Don says. "Tell them the line starts right behind me," Linda replies with a smile. For now, it's still Don's delight. "It means something to me," he says. He can almost visualize Fred Sanford sitting beside him as they haul junk together down Old U.S. 31 -- with a breeze through where the back window once was and a grin stretching across both of their faces. Bill Moor's column appears on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Contact him at bmoor@sbtinfo.com, or write him at the South Bend Tribune, 225 W. Colfax Ave., South Bend, IN 46626; (574) 235-6072.